Celebrating 20 Years of Cancer Care in Our Community

Twenty years ago, the Tate Cancer Center's first major milestone was to see its first patient on Feb. 24, 2003. Since then, the center has provided expert cancer care close to home to more than 20,000 individuals. 

20 Fast Facts About Tate Cancer Center:

1. Construction on the Tate Cancer Center began on Oct. 3, 2001. The construction project cost $17.4 million.
2. In its first year, the Tate Cancer Center treated 729 patients. 
3. It was named after community philanthropists, Creston and Betty Jane Tate, who provided a generous gift to support the construction.
4. Current UM BWMC President and CEO Kathy McCollum helped open the center and was its first Vice President and Executive Director.
5. It is an affiliate of the renowned University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is also a part of the University of Maryland Cancer Network.
6. Current University of Maryland Medical System President and CEO, Dr. Mohan Suntha, worked closely with the Tate Cancer Center while he was Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at University of Maryland School of Medicine as well as the Associate Director for Multidisciplinary Program Development and Outreach and, later, Associate Director of Clinical Affairs at University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.
7. The beautiful Healing Garden was built in 2003 as place for the patients, caregivers, and team members to go to reflect and enjoy.
8. Six team members plus Kathy McCollum have worked with the Tate Cancer Center since it opened in 2003. Current chair of hematology and oncology at UM BWMC, Russell R. DeLuca, MD was present at the groundbreaking ceremony. Dr. DeLuca was and remains Chair of the Cancer Committee and continues to see patients today.
9. Radiation oncology and medical oncology were the first two practices to move into the Tate Cancer Center in 2003. At the time, medical oncology and hematology services were exclusively provided by Chesapeake Oncology Hematology Associates (COHA). Today, COHA continues to offer medical oncology and hematology services, as does the Baltimore Washington Healthcare Services Medical Oncology and Hematology group. 
10. The Tate Cancer Center has cared for more than 20,000 patients. The team diagnoses and treats an average of 1,100 patients annually.
11. On an average day there are approximately 375 patient visits to the Tate Cancer Center.
12. The top five cancers treated by our oncologists (in order) are breast, lung, prostate, colon and kidney.
13. The center uses a multidisciplinary approach to cancer care, having specialized committees and tumor boards that meet regularly to discuss each patient’s unique plan of care.
14. It specializes in state-of-the-art minimally invasive cancer care that aims to make treatment safer and help patients recover faster.
15. Through its affiliation with the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Maryland Medical System, the Tate Cancer Center offers over 40 different clinical trials, which are studies designed to find new and better ways to treat patients with cancer. 
16. The Tate Cancer Center began a Comprehensive Geriatric Oncology Program in 2017, focusing on patients 80 years and older.
17. The Patient Care & Comfort Fund, which began in 2019, has supported approximately 200 patients during their treatments. The fund helps connect cancer patients to health food options, nutritional supplements, supportive equipment and supplies, rides to appointments, and more.
18. The Tate Cancer Center and UM BWMC received a Maryland Patient Safety Circle of Honor award for its Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR) protocol in 2019.
19. In 2021 The Tate Cancer Center was nationally recognized as an approved NPF Clinical and Academic Center of Excellence by the National Pancreas Foundation. It is the only cancer center in Maryland with both distinctions.
20. It is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer as an Academic Comprehensive Cancer Program (ACAD), a designation that only 13 percent of all cancer programs in the nation have achieved. The cancer program at UM BWMC was first accredited four years before the Tate Cancer Center officially opened. The center was recently reaccredited in May 2022.